Happily Ever After [In Your Tummy]

Yesterday, I mentioned the delightful baking possibilities that were only kept in my head.  Good thing you came back-that marriage of brownie, peanut butter, and chocolate ganache turned out to be a little more happily ever after than I thought.

Stick around; your tastebuds will thank me.  Though I can't speak the same for your waistline.  I can assure you that you won't even care when you eat this, or maybe you have much more self discipline than me and you will care.  Just do what I do and tell yourself you'll do 15 extra minutes of yoga while your poor calorie-aware conscience yells YOU DON'T DO ANY YOGA AT ALL!! Oh, so this doesn't happen to anyone else?

Yeah me neither.

I combined three things that are yummy by themselves and crossed my fingers that this didn't turn out to be some bird-brained idea.

It seems like a lot of work, but it's not.  There are several steps involved but all are simple.

And don't let the 3 sticks of margarine and cup of whipping cream scare you.  I would advise not trying to add up the calories involved; you'll only give yourself a headache and a guilty conscience.

So first, make the brownies.  To do that, you'll need:

4 squares (1 oz each) of unsweetened chocolate

1 c. margarine

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350* and melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan.  Stir constantly-burnt chocolate is no fun for anyone.  When that's combined, remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

You can get started on the next part:

Put the eggs in your mixer and mix until they are thick.  Gradually add the remaining ingredients (in order).  Now add your chocolate mixture and beat for one more minute.  Pour into 9x13" pan that has been greased or oiled and floured if you prefer.  Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

--

While that's baking, you make the peanut butter cookie dough.  If you're one of those people who doesn't eat cookie dough becaues of the raw eggs, replace the egg with 1/4 c. applesauce.  Obviously, I have no qualms with putting my faith in the cookie dough.

For this, you'll need:

1/2 c. margarine, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c. flour

Beat margarine and peanut butter until well combined, scraping sides of bowl when needed. Add both sugars and the baking soda and powder; beat until combined.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined.  Mix in flour.

--

Once your brownies have been taken out of the oven, you'll want to let them cool or you'll haev soggy cookie dough.  Once the brownies are cool, spread the cookie dough over the top as evenly as you can (use your fingers to push it to the edges).

--

Okay, now for the ganache.  Don't let that word scare you.

You need:

1 c. heavy whipping cream

9 oz semi sweet chocolate

I used bars of semi sweet chocolate but if you wanted to use the chocolate chips that would work just as well and it would be less time consuming.  If you use the bar, you need to chop up the pieces into fairly small chunks.  Put those in a bowl and leave close to the stove.  In a small saucepan, heat the whipping cream just until it boils (don't leave-whipping cream bubbles right over the edge very quickly!).  Remove from the heat and pour over your chocolate chunks-whisk until all chocolate has been melted.

Pour that yummy goodness over the peanut butter layer and place in your fridge overnight (I know, what a pain, but it's worth it to let it set).

And voila!  There went your diet.

You're welcome.